Support the effort to create a Marine Protected Area in the Azores  |  Portugal

Impacts

Background

Only 8% of the oceans are protected areas. The Azores form a hotspot for marine wildlife. More than 20 species of cetaceans are regularly sighted around the Azores. Besides migratory species like the endangered blue and fin whales, several cetacean species are resident. Risso’s dolphins are the best documented among these. The research on Risso’s dolphins in the Azores has played a crucial role in the recognition of the Azores as an Important Marine Mammal Area in 2024, a first important step towards the creation of a MPA (Marine Protected Area).

Since 2018 we have witnessed a marked increase in the presence of pilot whales in the Azores whereas the Risso’s dolphins show a downward trend. Both species target the same prey: deep-sea squid, so there may be a competition for resources. One of the hypotheses is that this is related to climate change: the warming up of sea level temperatures. To investigate this, we started a satellite tagging project, in cooperation with fellow scientists from MARE, Madeira, who have experience in deploying tags on cetaceans, including 16 pilot whales.

The project was originally targeted at pilot whales and Risso’s dolphins, with the purpose of gaining insights into the distribution and movement patterns of both species. During fieldwork, we established that deploying tags on Risso’s dolphins was more difficult than expected, with too much risk of either losing the (expensive) satellite tags or suboptimal deployments leading to deployment periods too short to draw meaningful conclusions. We therefore switched the focus to pilot whales only, with the added benefit that we will be able to use the data in combination with those collected by the MARE scientists. As such we will be able to expand insights to another part of the Macaronesian archipelago. This cooperation will lead to a jointly developed model of the movements of pilot whales in relation to ecological factors such as bathymetry and sea surface temperature. We expect that this will help us understand whether climate change can contribute to a possible displacement of Risso’s dolphins in the Azores by pilot whales.